


Blood On Your Hands

by changrens



Series: Blood On Your Hands [1]
Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: M/M, awaken-f, doctor!yanchen, gangmember!zeren, oaca, oaca is a gang too, yhnext - Freeform, yuehua - Freeform, yuehua is a gang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 00:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14863172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/changrens/pseuds/changrens
Summary: Zeren’s part of a gang. Yanchen’s a surgical resident. Neither expected to meet the other, especially not in a dark alleyway with blood on the ground.Italics: FlashbackWord Count: 5.6kWarnings: blood, swearing, really inaccurate medicine, tropes.





	Blood On Your Hands

Zeren was good at his job, if one could call it a job.

If beating people up was equivalent to filing reports or entering data at a 9 to 5, he’d be employee of the month. Every month.

He’d proven his worth after stopping a member of a rival gang from seriously injuring Minghao, taking a broken nose from the rival for his trouble. After that, the leader of the gang to which he now belonged, Zhu Zhengting, agreed to let him join.

With nowhere to go and no one to love, Zeren had nothing to lose. Nothing to lose, except for himself.

* * *

 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Wenjun groaned from his seated position on the table, letting his head fall back.

“Not at all.” Quanzhe replied, leaning against the doorframe.

“Zhengting’s seriously gotta calm down with these ‘patrols’ or whatever he calls them. It’s literally begging for trouble.” Wenjun sighed.

“If trouble’s what the other gangs want, then that’s what they’ll get. This is our turf and they’re not welcome here.” Zeren spoke up, getting up from his place on the couch.

“It’s not like it ever bothers you,” Minghao whined. “You always get lucky and get the weak ones.”

“It’s not luck. It’s natural talent.” Zeren replied.

“Mhm.” Minghao hummed, not believing a word coming out of the older’s mouth.

“Shut it, Huang.” Zeren snapped, walking over to the table where Wenjun was sitting. “Did you forget I was the one who kept those guys from beating your ass to a pulp?”

“How could I? You never let me forget it.” Minghao muttered.

“Anyways, Zhengting said he’d be here in a bit to talk about who’s going on the “patrol” tonight,” Quanzhe said.

“And here I am.” Zhengting’s voice rang through the room. All heads turned to the door where the leader was confidently striding in with Chengcheng and Xinchun on his heels.

Underestimating the leader of the Yuehua gang was easy. Zhu Zhengting, known by many for his bright disposition and killer smile, had quite the dark side, as Zeren had learned. The leader was very protective over his brothers, so when Zeren dragged Minghao into the base with broken ribs and a concussion, Zhengting pushed Zeren back against a wall with a knife held to his throat before the younger had the chance to explain himself.

_“I’m going to give you three seconds to explain to me who the hell you think you are before you’re worse off than him.” Zhengting threatened, cocking his head towards Minghao._

_“I saved his life just now. What a way to repay me!” Zeren spat. “I’ve already got a broken nose because of this kid so why not add on to the fun?” he said almost cockily, eyes glancing down at the knife held dangerously close to his neck._

_Zhengting’s eyes narrowed. Minghao finally broke the silence with a wheeze, making every pair of eyes in the room snap to the youngest, who was being held up and comforted by Quanzhe._

_“Ge, it’s true. He didn’t do this to me.” Minghao managed to squeeze out between shallow breaths._

_Zhengting turned back to Zeren, pulling the knife away but not releasing his grip, waiting for further explanation._

_“It was someone from OACA,” Zeren said. “They were down by 3rd street. I saw them giving him a hard time and he very clearly wasn’t going to make it out of it situation alone. I figured you might want him alive and out of the hospital.”_

_The air was thick with tension for another moment, Zhengting looking Zeren up and down before finally letting go. “I hope you know who you just got yourself involved with.” Zhengting said, before turning on his heel and walking out of the room, leaving his members to tend to the youngest and Zeren to figure out what just happened._

Zhengting paused in front of the table, leaning over the map laid across it.

“I assume you’ve all already started complaining about this to each other, but the patrols are happening.” Zhengting said, glancing at each member, almost challenging those who disagreed with him to try and change his mind.

They all knew better than to challenge Zhengting.

“Because they’ll be more frequent, this means that there will be fewer people on each patrol.” The leader explained. “This is for surveillance only. Do not get involved unless they attack first. Don’t make me clean up your mess.”

“Chengcheng and Wenjun are taking the west side. Xinchun and Minghao on the south side. Zeren and Quanzhe on the east side.” Zhengting explained.

“Meet back here at 2200. Don’t be late.”

* * *

 

“If I spend any more time doing scut, I’m pretty sure my eyes are gonna fall out of my head.”

“Rui, If I spend any more time hearing you complain about being on scut, my eyes will fall out of my head.”

(A/N: scut is like really basic medical procedures; stuff that a more experienced doctor usually leaves for newer doctors to do so that they can work on more interesting things)

“Shut up. You’re the superstar of the hospital here, Yanchen. All the attendings want to work with you.”

It had been a long shift, one of the longest of Yanchen’s resident years. He somehow managed to make it through on coffee and protein bars, despite his friend’s incessant whining that continued into where they sat in the locker room.

Yanchen and Zhou Rui had been friends since the beginning of their internships; they were so close and worked so in sync people started calling them ‘The Zhou Twins”.

They met on the first day.

On that first day, they were both expecting something simple to ease them into the residency program. They were both very wrong.

“ _This is so exciting. I never thought I would live to see this day.” Yanchen smiled widely, shutting his locker in the interns’ changing room before hanging his stethoscope around his neck._

_“I know. My face has been buried in a textbook for so long that I didn’t think I would see the sun again.” Zhou Rui replied, pulling his hair up._

_“Surely it will just be simple today, right? Some consultations in the clinic, a few flu shots, maybe watch a procedure if we get lucky.” Yanchen said, pulling his lab coat over his scrubs._

_“As long as I don’t become a coffee slave, I’m down for anything.” Zhou Rui snorted._

_Then the door flew open, revealing a very red-faced Chen Linong, a nurse in the same hospital._

_“What are you guys doing? Don’t you look at your pagers?!” Linong panted._

_“Whoa, whoa, whoa. What happened? Where’s the fire?” Zhou Rui asked, clearly bewildered by the young nurse’s appearance._

_“Did you sprint all the way up here?” Yanchen questioned to which Linong nodded._

_“You guys are needed in the ER right away. Some dude cut off his own foot!” Linong exclaimed, bending over to put his hands on his knees._

_Zhou Rui and Yanchen only shared a puzzled look before both ran out of the locker room, leaving Linong to catch his breath._

_The pair sprinted down to the ground level where the ER was located, busting inside the first trauma room._

_“Oh my god!” Zhou Rui yelled after seeing the man’s severed foot._

_“He wasn’t lying.” Yanchen said, standing wide-eyed next to his friend._

_“Are you guys gonna just stand there or are you going to get over here and help control this bleeding?” the head attending snapped._

_“Sorry.” They both muttered before slipping on some gloves and beginning to work._

Yanchen hadn’t seen many interesting things like someone cutting off their own foot since that first day. A bit of internal bleeding when a worker fell off a roof, a dash of mono that two teenagers spread to their entire friend group, and a hint of bronchitis from all the smog in the air were all within the norm, but that was it.

That day had been no different. The most exciting thing that came his way was a case of contact dermatitis in the clinic, making his day at least somewhat different from routine. 

After his long shift, the surgical resident was dying to get some sleep–and it wasn’t far off, he just had to get home first.

“I’m gonna get going.” Yanchen told Zhou Rui, getting up from the bench in the locker room.

“You’re walking home again?” His friend asked, tossing his pens from his scrub pocket into his locker.

“You make it sound like it’s not a normal occurrence. Not all of us can afford a car,” Yanchen explained. “I live too close to take the subway or bus. Walking is good for you anyways.”

“So I’ve been told.” Zhou Rui hummed, closing his locker and turning to face his friend while slipping his coat on. “Just be careful.” 

Yanchen made a noise ackowledging Zhou Rui’s statement before saying goodbye to the older and walking out of the door.

It was in the middle of November, meaning that the chilly air served as even greater motivation for Yanchen to hurry back to his warm apartment. The wind blew through his hair and made his nose run, making him pull his coat tighter around him.

He moved briskly down the sidewalk, his path only lit by streetlights and signs from storefronts. Even if it wasn’t lit, Yanchen was sure he could find his way home in the dark by now; after walking this way for so long, he had almost every aspect of the dim streets committed to memory. 

Yanchen was almost ¾ of the way home by this point, anxious to take off the dirty scrubs and slip into his sweatpants that were patiently waiting for him along with his dinner. Nothing was going to stop him from getting home as soon as possible. At least, that’s what Yanchen was telling himself before he heard a cry of pain come from the alleyway he had just passed.  The sound made the resident freeze before slowly backing up out of curiosity. 

Peering into the dark, Yanchen couldn’t really make out any distinct figures, but he thought he heard panting and a few whimpers. He looked around himself, but he didn’t see anyone else that might be concerned by the noises. 

‘Was it a rat maybe? or metal creaking?’ the resident thought. ‘Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good.’

Keeping Zhou Rui’s warning to “be careful” in mind, Yanchen pulled his phone from his pocket and turned on the flashlight before proceeding into the dark with caution.

There wasn’t much that the light showed him. There were some cardboard boxes on the ground and some bags of trash left out to be picked up in the morning, maybe the occasional dumpster, but that was it. Yanchen almost gave up on finding the source of the noise before he heard a pained groan come from around the corner.

Yanchen could have sworn he felt the air thicken with some sort of cinematic tension, the hairs on the back his neck sticking up. 

Heart picking up speed, Yanchen slowly walked towards the corner with his phone flashlight in his hand, ready to reveal whatever lie before him.

The resident moved passed the corner and shined the light into the corridor, eyes landing on a man on the ground, clutching his abdomen, breathing hard. There was also a shiny, red substance coating the bricks. Blood.

“Oh my god!” Yanchen gasped, moving towards the man quickly and bending down to his level. “Are you okay?!” 

The man looked up for the first time, catching Yanchen’s eyes. He had brown hair with a reddish tint coupled with deep brown eyes that added a softness to his features. 

“Fine, thanks.” He managed to spit out, shifting uncomfortably.

“That doesn’t look fine. We need to get you to the hospital!” Yanchen said, preparing to help the man up.

“No.” The wounded one said roughly. “No hospitals. I’ll be fine, just maybe need a couple of stitches.” He grimaced.

Yanchen couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He also noticed the deep laceration on the man’s forehead and the bruises forming on his left cheek; it was clear someone, not something, did this to him.

“Look…” the resident paused, waiting for the other to supply his name.

“Zeren.” the man said.

“Zeren, My name is Yanchen. I’m a doctor. You’re bleeding pretty badly, obviously. I don’t know how it happened or why–” Yanchen was cut off by Zeren.

“I’ll tell you why. Someone wasn’t where they were supposed to be.” He said cryptically.

“Either way, you need medical attention.” Yanchen said, trying desperately to convince the injured man. 

“Can’t go to the hospital. There’s police there.” Zeren explained, tilting his head back and closing his eyes, clearly trying to hide the pain.

“Why is that a problem?” Yanchen asked, growing more confused by the second.

Zeren let out a dark chuckle before looking back at Yanchen.

“Ever heard of Yuehua?” Zeren asked, looking for recognition in the resident’s face. 

“The gang?” Yanchen questioned.

Zeren nodded. “You’re looking at one of the members.”

Yanchen froze, unsure of what to say or do. He knew of Yuehua. There’d been a few times that someone had come into the ER very battered and bruised, claiming to be another victim of the gang. He didn’t know much other than that, as he tended to be on an attending’s service, meaning he didn’t get to a lot of interesting things that came through the ER.

“You still need to be looked at. Is there anywhere you could get help?” Yanchen asked.

“Being a gang member doesn’t come with great health benefits.” Zeren snorted.

“Does your gang have like a medic or something?” Yanchen tried.

“Quanzhe gave me ice for a sprain once, but that’s about it.” Zeren replied.

Yanchen sighed knowing he was at a fork in the road. Zeren needed medical attention, badly at that. Yanchen knew he was capable of providing such medical care. The problem? He could get in serious trouble for it. If the police got involved, Yanchen could lose his license or easily end up getting sued. He could also get in trouble if he did nothing. He bit his lip, trying to decide what to do.

“Are you going to just sit there forever?” Zeren interrupted his thinking. 

Yanchen looked back up into the injured man’s eyes before shaking his head to clear his thoughts of doubt and standing up. 

“Give me your hands.” he commanded.

“I don’t know if that’s a great idea. I’m bleeding pretty badly out of my side.” Zeren explained from where he was sitting on the ground, still shifting.

“Come on. The sooner we get you out of this cold, dark alley the better.” Yanchen reasoned.

Zeren paused.

“Why should I trust you?” He asked.

Yanchen honestly had no idea why Zeren should trust him, and he wasn’t going to lie about that.

“I don’t know.” Yanchen answered. “What I do know is that if the blood loss hasn’t hit you yet, it will soon. The longer you stay out here, the more likely you are to become hypothermic and there’s a greater chance of infection. You pick your risk.” 

Zeren’s eyes narrowed. He kept his gaze focused on Yanchen for a moment before agreeing. 

“Fine. But if you get anyone involved, I’ll make sure you regret it.” the gang member threatened, putting the hand not clutching his stomach up for Yanchen to grab. 

Yanchen took hold of the injured man and pulled him up, earning a few hisses in pain from Zeren.

“Shit… that really hurts.” Zeren muttered.

Yanchen said nothing, focusing on getting Zeren’s arm around his neck and helping the injured one limp along.

It’s a good thing Yanchen wasn’t far from his apartment when he found Zeren, because at this point, the resident was practically carrying the man. The pair didn’t exchange a lot of words on the way, both too concentrated on getting out of the cold. Surprisingly, they didn’t get a lot of attention. 

Yanchen thanked whatever deity there may be that there was an elevator in his building. They rode up to the floor that the apartment was on, the sound of their pants bouncing off the walls of the elevator. When the pair was at the front door to the apartment, Yanchen was sure they were both ready to collapse. Nevertheless, the resident persevered until the injured gang member was sitting on his bathroom counter, waiting for the other to get the first aid kit.

“I’m still not too sure how you’ll be able to help me.” Zeren spoke up while Yanchen dug through the cabinets. 

“I don’t have a lot of supplies, but I’ll do what I can.” He replied, standing up and meeting Zeren’s eyes. “But before that, you need to tell me what happened.” 

Zeren stiffened visibly. His gaze avoided Yanchen’s and he bit his lip.

“Come on. Stop playing tough guy, I already know you got your ass beat.” Yanchen tried to convince the other, growing exasperated.

Zeren shot the other a glare before speaking again. “ **Fine.** ”

* * *

_“Quanzhe, can you hurry it up? I’m freezing my ass off.” Zeren complained to his partner while he stood lookout.  
_

_“Shut up.” Quanzhe replied. “Zhengting wants us to be thorough. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to come back out here.” The blonde snapped.  
_

_Zeren rolled his eyes, rubbing his hands over his arms in an effort to keep warm. Quanzhe returned out of the alleyway, clicking his flashlight off before handing it back to eldest of the two._

_“C’mon, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.” The younger sighed.  
_

_“Maybe we should split up.” Zeren suggested.  
_

_“And risk having us getting our asses handed to us? No thanks.” Quanzhe retorted.  
_

_“What, are you scared or something?” Zeren teased. “You don’t have to worry about me. Whoever, it is, I can take ‘em.”_

_“You act like Zhengting didn’t nearly kill you a few months ago.”  
_

_Zeren scoffed. “That’s only because I let him do that. I had to flatter the alpha male!”_

_“Sure.” Quanzhe answered sarcastically.  
_

_“Still, I think we should split up. We’ll cover the area faster. If you need help just yell.” Zeren pressed. Quanzhe stopped walking and turned to the elder._

_“Fine.” He sighed. “Meet back here in 20.”_

_Zeren smirked, knowing he had won. “Okay. Have fun, don’t get shot!” He called after Quanzhe, who was already a good 30 feet from him. He knew the blonde rolled his eyes at that._

_It was only after Quanzhe was gone that the older member realized how vulnerable he was alone. No one to joke with to diffuse the tension, no one to stand guard for him, **no one to have his back.**_

_It’s not like Zeren hadn’t been alone in this part of town before; he’d even be alone here at night. He knew the area well and the people in the area even better. What he didn’t know, was why he felt so on edge. He was really starting to regret splitting up._

_It’s almost as if every sensation around him was amplified. He could feel the knife he kept sheathed in his waistband starting to rub against his skin as he walked. He could hear the faint sounds of footsteps._

_He was being watched._

_Something Zeren didn’t want to label as fear was very present with him. He could feel it in his chest, making his heart race. He decided it would better to keep moving, accutely aware of what could happen if he didn’t._

_Sounds kept getting louder, moving closer. His fingers closed around his knife._

_“Quanzhe? If you’re fucking with me, I’m seriously gonna beat your ass.”  the brunette called._

_The footsteps got more and more frantic. Zeren tried to convince himself that the shadows he kept seeing were his eyes playing tricks on him. The tension was only making this worse._

_“Who are you?!” Zeren yelled, keeping his hand on his knife and looking around him._

_Suddenly, all went quiet. The footsteps stopped. The only thing he could hear was his own heavy breaths._

_A figure stepped out from the shadows. Zeren pulled his knife from his waistband, ready to attack._

_“That’s no way to greet an old friend.”_

_Zeren froze, recognizing the figure._

_“What do you want, Mubo?” he spat, still holding his knife towards the older one._

_“Wow… You’ve gotten brave, Zeren. Addressing your elder without any honorifics…” Mubo chuckled darkly._

_“Did you really expect me to pull all of that out of my ass? Why don’t I get down on the ground so that you can step on me while you’re at it? Wouldn’t want to get your shoes dirty.” Zeren growled, taking in Mubo’s appearance. He was dressed in black from head to toe. His hair was pushed upwards, different from how he used to wear it. The bump in his pocket gave away the fact that he wasn’t unarmed._

_“Don’t flatter yourself.” The older glared._

_“I’m only going to ask one more time. What do you want?” Zeren questioned._

_“I think you know, Zeren.”_

_“If an apology is what you want, you’re dreaming if you think you’re going to get one, Mubo.”_

_“Hah. An apology.” Mubo snorted,  sauntering towards Zeren. “If only an apology could fix this. No. I don’t want an apology.” He stopped in front of the younger._

_Zeren’s eyes narrowed._

_“I want you to pay.” the leader stated._

_Before Zeren had time to react, four other figures emerged from the shadows as well. In an instant, they were on top of him. There was a sharp pain that he felt rip through his right side, damage Zeren figured could only be a knife’s doing. He screamed in pain, using the newly found energy to land a few punches and give a few scratches with his knife. The energy, however, didn’t last long._

_Several punches to the face later, the fight within Zeren left him. There was no way of escape.  Disoriented and in pain, he knew the only way it would stop is if he gave in. So he did. It went on for what seemed to be an eternity; Zeren was sure he at least had a concussion, not to mention whatever damage his side had taken, and he couldn’t do anything about it._

_Two of the figures pulled him up by his arms, holding him in front of their leader._

_“Oh, Zeren…” Mubo tsked. “For one of Yuehua’s best fighters, I’m almost disappointed with what i’ve seen here tonight. Maybe you’re not as good as people make you out to be.”  He hummed._

_“OACA… could never produce… fighters half as good as Yuehua.” Zeren wheezed, spitting blood out of his mouth._

_Mubo clenched his jaw. “And to think I had thought you had finally learned your place.” He growled. “I see we’ll have to work on that in the future.”_

_With those final words, Mubo kicked Zeren in the chest, the pain effectively knocking the younger out._

* * *

“And that’s when I passed out. I only came to a little bit before you found me.” Zeren explained, leaning against the mirror in the bathroom, watching Yanchen’s mouth hang open.

“How the hell are you acting so tough? Doesn’t it hurt?” Yanchen questioned.

“Of course. Hurts like a motherfucker. It helps that I’m still hopped up on adrenaline.” Zeren replied.

Yanchen blinked, seemingly trying to clear his head. He stared at the gang member that sat on his bathroom counter, staining the sink and mirror with blood.

“So, you gonna fix me up or am I gonna have to get some office staples to close this?” Zeren asked, gesturing to the major gash in his side.

“God! Don’t do that, oh my god.” Yanchen gasped. “I’m just trying to figure out where to start.”

“Well, you might wanna get going, doc. Losing blood and losing time here.” Zeren quipped, groaning when he shifted positions slightly.

“Uh, right. Okay.” Yanchen tried desperately to pull himself together.

‘He’s just another patient.’ The resident told himself. ‘It’s not like what he just did is totally illegal or anything, just forget about it.’

He pulled on the gloves from the first aid kit and opened the bottle of antiseptic, taking out some gauze to soak up the blood as well.

“Can you lift up your shirt? I need to see how bad the wound on your side is.” Yanchen asked. Zeren slowly obliged, hissing in pain at every slight movement he made.

“Oh my god.” Yanchen gulped when he saw the size of the wound.

“It’s bad, huh?” Zeren said.

“Just slightly. I think it’s pretty superficial, luckily.” Yanchen replied. “Let me clean it up. This will sting.” He warned, dousing the gauze in the solution before beginning to wipe away the blood.

“Ahhh~” the injured one groaned at the burning sensation, trying to stay as still as possible.

Yanchen continued to disinfect the gash, working as quickly as he could. Zeren was lucky. The wound wasn’t very deep and was close to his ribs, meaning that it had missed any vital organs. There was a lot of blood, but the bleeding seemed to be stopping quickly. As long as there was no infection, there was no need to worry about it too much. 

“Almost there.” Yanchen told the other reassuringly. “You’ll need a few stitches, but I think you’ll be okay.” 

“Awesome.” Zeren replied sarcastically, letting his head fall back against the mirror gently.

“How’s your head?” Yanchen asked, finishing up disinfecting Zeren’s side while he talked. 

“ It hurts.” the other grunted.

“I figured. I can tell you got hit a few times.” 

“Mmmhm.” Zeren hummed, letting his eyes close. 

Yanchen looked up at the other’s face, realizing how quiet the injured man had become. 

“Hey,” the resident shook Zeren. “You can’t go to sleep, you might have a concussion.” 

“I’m awake.” Zeren said loudly, looking back down at Yanchen. 

“Good, stay that way.” 

Zeren rolled his eyes. 

“I’m done cleaning it. Now for the fun part.” Yanchen sighed, pulling a suture kit from the first aid box and opening it. 

“You ever had stitches before?” Yanchen asked, picking up the surgical thread.

“Once,” Zeren replied. “I bust my forehead open on a rock when I fell down. I was 8.” He explained, watching Yanchen with weary eyes. “Of course, this will be nothing like that, I’m guessing.”

“I don’t have any painkillers stronger than ibuprofen, so I’m afraid so.” Yanchen replied, frowning at the man sitting on the counter.

“Just get it over with.” Zeren sighed, groaning and shutting his eyes, not wanting to watch.

“I’ll try to be quick. It’s about 12 of them.”

He felt Yanchen’s hand on his ribs, and then the needle piercing his skin.

“Shit.” Zeren swore breathlessly, trying to breathe through the pain.

It felt like forever before Yanchen announced that he was finished. The resident dutifully placed a bandage over the sutures and Zeren opened his eyes. 

“God, that hurts.” the Yuehua member winced. 

“Let me check your head.” Yanchen told him, heading to the kitchen to grab his penlight. 

When he returned, the resident looked into Zeren’s eyes and made him do a whole bunch of things like touching his nose and pushing down on Yanchen’s hands before Zeren was told he had a minor concussion. 

“The gash should be fine without stitches.” Yanchen told him, picking up more gauze to quickly clean the area before applying another bandage. 

“Lucky me.” Zeren muttered.

“You should rest now. You’ve been through a lot.” Yanchen said. 

“Yeah, you’re right, I should get going.” Zeren replied, starting to move past the resident.

“Whoa, wait. Where are you going?” Yanchen asked. 

“Back home.” the younger replied.

“You can’t go back out there alone. You’ve lost a lot of blood and it’s freezing.” Yanchen tried to reason.

“I’ll manage.” 

“No. I’m only letting you leave unless I know you’ll be okay.” the elder said.

“Fine. You got a phone?” 

* * *

“It’s all my fault. I-I don’t know what happened.” Quanzhe stumbled over his words as Xinchun sat next to him on the couch, trying to get any information out of him. The blonde was shaking, both from shock and from the cold.

“You split up off of 6th, correct?” Wenjun asked. 

“Yes, Wenjun, for fuck’s sake. You’ve asked him 4 times now.” Minghao retorted. 

The door to the room swung open, Chengcheng and Zhengting stepping into the room. 

“We looked everywhere, no sign of him.” Chengcheng sighed. Zhengting moved towards the map table, completely silent.

“Did he get taken maybe? We know that OACA has started a habit of showing up over there at the worst of times.” Minghao suggested.

“What would OACA possibly want to do with Zeren? Yeah, maybe they’d beat him up, but that’s just another body for them to haul around.” Chengcheng argued. 

“What if he’s dead?” Quanzhe’s voice wavered. “What if he’s dead and it’s my fault?” Tears began to stream down his cheeks.

“I’m sure he’s fine, Quanzhe. If there’s anything Zeren knows how to do, it’s to hold his own.” Xinchun reasoned, trying his best to calm his friend down.

“It’s been 3 hours.” Wenjun supplied, making Quanzhe cry harder.

“Not helping, dumbass.” Minghao called to him.

“What am I supposed to say? Honestly, at this point, all we can do is keep looking and hope he shows up somewhere.” Wenjun pointed out.

“He’s right.” Zhengting spoke for the first time. “All we can do is wait. It’s after midnight. If something happened to him, we’ll know by morning.” 

Time ticked on. Quanzhe eventually calmed down and fell asleep, his head resting on Xinchun’s lap. There were soft snores coming from Minghao on the other couch. 

Chengcheng and Wenjun sat quietly, heads lolling to the side with sleep in their eyes every so often. 

Zhengting sat at the table, staring off into space. There were purple, bruise like shapes under his eyes from the lack of sleep. The leader contemplated what could have happened to the missing member. He ruled out arrest and personal reasons. As far as Zhengting knew, Zeren didn’t have much of a life outside of Yuehua. Zhengting also knew the man was smart enough to know to avoid the police. 

‘Maybe he got wrapped up with another gang?’ Zhengting wondered. Zeren didn’t have the greatest of histories with OACA; it wasn’t likely that the leader, Han Mubo, would show him mercy, not after what Zeren did. It cost Mubo everything.

Zhengting was so deep in his thoughts that he barely heard his cell phone ring. Wenjun picked his head up at the noise, still half asleep but trying his hardest to understand what was happening. 

Snapping out of his trance, Zhengting fumbled around the table, reaching for the device. The leader didn’t recognize the number, but answered anyways.

“Hello?” Zhengting said into the phone, tone steady.

“Zhengting? It’s me.” the familiar voice came through the receiver. 

Zeren.

Zhengting shot up from his seat so quickly that the chair he was sitting in fell back, making a loud bang as it hit the ground. Chengcheng and Xinchun were now awake, looking around quickly for what had caused the disturbance in their slumber.

**“** _ **Where the fuck have you been?!”**  _Zhengting demanded. 

“Ha. Good to hear your voice too, boss.” the young member chuckled.

“Ding Zeren, if you would like to remain in one piece, I suggest you explain what the hell happened to you within the next ten seconds. We were worried about you!” the leader threatened, voice booming. 

Quanzhe groaned in his sleep, opening one eye at the loud sounds before sitting up and slipping into consciousness. Minghao was still snoring.

“Be careful, Zhengting. It almost sounds like you care about me. Long story short, the patrol didn’t go well.” Zeren replied.

Zhengting paused, waiting for the younger to explain.

“Mubo showed up, had his members beat the shit out of me and then left me for dead.” Zeren said through the phone.

“Not surprising. Where are you now?” Zhengting asked, his volume significantly lower than before.

4 sets of eyes watched their leader pace back and forth, waiting on more information.

“Ha, okay, about that…” Zeren trailed off. 

“What happened?” the eldest pressed.

“This guy, Yanchen, found me all banged up, right? Turns out he’s a doctor, so he took me back to his place and stitched me up.” Zeren answered. 

“Wait, so you went back to a stranger’s house? How did you know that he wouldn’t call the police or something?” Zhengting scolded. 

“Calm down, mom. He didn’t try anything.” Zhengting could practically hear Zeren roll his eyes over the phone.

“Anyways, I’m here still. The doc says I can’t leave unless you come get me.” Zeren continued.

“You do realize it’s 4 am, right?” the leader asked, exasperation clear in his voice. 

“Yup. I’ll text you the address from Yanchen’s phone.” 

“ ** _Fine._** ” Zhengting growled. “You better have the best story I’ve ever heard or we’re never letting you outside the base again.”

“At this point, that sounds okay to me. See you in a bit.” Zeren replied before hanging up, the click sounding loud and clear in Zhengting’s ear. 

The leader locked his phone, tossing it gently onto the table. 

“Well?” Wenjun asked, waiting for the leader to relay the information.

“Get the car. I know where he is.” Zhengting grunted.

Chengcheng immediately shot up from their positions on the couches, running to get the keys.

“Is he okay?” Quanzhe asked nervously.

Zhengting pulled on his jacket and picked up his gun, sliding it into its’ holster before replying. 

“He better be. If not, Han Mubo has  _ **no idea**_  what he just got himself into.” 

**TO BE CONTINUED.**


End file.
